GROUP NORMS AND SELF-AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR.

AGGRESSION (Psychology); ATTITUDE (Psychology); PERSONALITY; PSYCHOLOGY; GROUPS; RESEARCH

There is evidence from nonexperimental studies that group norms may influence both lethal and non-lethal self-aggressive behaviors. Nonexperimental studies, however, provide little information about potential cause-and-effect relationships. Accordingly, we experimentally examined whether self-aggressive group norms influence self-aggressive intent and behavior. Participants (N=107) were exposed either to high-, low-, or mixed-self-aggressive group normative information, or were provided no normative information. After group norms were established, the participant stated his or her own self-aggressive intentions, and then completed a laboratory task designed to assess self-aggressive behavior. Results support the notion that group norms play a strong role in the expression of self-aggressive behavior. Clinical implications and the limitations of laboratory studies of self-aggression are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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